The Storm is Here!
by UnKnownSalvation
Summary: Rampant Storm, a pegasus and son of a late former Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard, signs himself up to join. And through he has a shaky start, began to find his place in the guard... but what destiny will he make for himself... especially with the stakes he'll be playing with. Might become M in the future. *Contains anthro* *First-Person*
1. Prologue: Calm before the Storm

**A/N: Sal here with a new story idea I've been considering. Here is the prologue and I'd like to know what you guys think. Btw, all characters are anthros.  
**

_**The Storm is Here!  
**_

_**Prologue: Calm before the Storm**_

"Ok! I got my gear, I got my armor, the flyer to get in, and my dad's sword... Am I forgetting anything?" asked a true blue pegasus with a sunglow yellow mane and tail to himself. He was wearing a blue-gray hoodie with holes for his wings along with tan baggy pants and sneakers with a red and black bag on his back along with a sheathed sword.

"Just one thing, honey." said an atomic tangerine orange pegasus. The mare took the pendant necklace she was wearing and placed it around the stallion's neck. The pendant looked like a black tornado attached to a thin fabric strap. "My father gave this to me when I was your age. It only seems right to pass it to you."

"Thanks mom! I'll see you soon and I promise I'll make Dad proud!"

"I know you will... But not if you're late!" The pegasus looked at the clock to see he WAS late.

"AH! Gotta go!" The pegasus gave his mom a hug and kiss on the cheek before he took flight for Canterlot Castle.

So who is that blue pegasus? Well... that's me.

My name is Rampant Storm.

Great name, I know. Not the name I would've picked for me but what can you do? You may not care but while you're here I might as well tell you a little about myself.

I'm the son of a pegasus mother and unicorn father. Out of the two of them, I was closest to my mom, Blur Seeker. She was a former pro racer who retired once I was born to take care of me. Meanwhile my dad, Star Storm, worked as Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard till he retired when I was nine and gave the title to his successor before it was given to the current Captain, Shining Armor.

My dad always wanted me to follow in his footsteps... and it seemed the only thing that could make that stubborn stallion proud of me... So I was off to Canterlot Castle with the goal of joining the royal guard like my dad. It's strange... I've lived in Canterlot my whole life but had no memories of ever being in a castle that was quite literally a five minute flight from my house.

"There it is..." I said to myself. I landed at the front stairs and looked at the towering structure. "Well… I'm finally here. It's now or never, Storm… Time to make Dad proud!"

So for better or worse… I was going to do the only thing I was any good at… and I had the belief that my journey had started right then and there... and sometimes it sucks to be right.

**A/N: Till Next Time: PLZ review, fav, follow, and all that good stuff and I'll see you guys next time! Sal out!**


	2. Ch 1: First Round

_**Ch. 1: First Round**_

I walked up to the front doors to see a few guards watching the door. I showed them my flyer for the tryouts.

"This way, sir." The guard said in a deep and gruff voice. I followed him into the shiny castle till we came to an ominous looking stairwell. "The tryouts are down this way. You signed up yesterday so just wait until your name is called." I nodded and began to climb down the stairwell. It was only lit by torch so it was a kind of creepy. Felt like I was walking into a crypt... or Discord's part of the castle. Whichever seemed more believable.

I walked in and everyone in the room immediately noticed my presence before going back to whatever they were doing. I could hear whispers from some of them but I couldn't make anything out.

So I sat at the edge of the room waiting for the physical part of the exam to begin. The written part was the day before and was just to prove I wasn't an idiot and what my morals I had so it was a pretty easy test. But next was the fun bit; I had to pass through these tryouts to prove something to the ponies that were judging us… specifically the captain himself. I needed to win at least one match… but who was my opponent going to be? All of the other stallions outmatch me in size but they were all most likely slower because of it.

The three unicorns in the room weren't the biggest threat since they weren't allowed their magic, so I likely had them outmatched. Although looks can be deceiving.

The earth ponies all seemed too big and cumbersome to hit something as agile as a pegasus, but did seem durable. So even if I did hit them there's no guarantee my attacks would do a thing.

There was only one other pegasus in the room so he might be the wild card. He looked like he was quick enough to keep me off-guard.

Thinking it over now... I wonder why there were only eight of us there in the first place...

Every pony in the room was wearing whatever they're comfortable in so far. We were all told to bring armor but we couldn't use it in the first round. I believed I would find out soon enough so I didn't question it. My armor was just a basic silver armor set that was lightweight and flexible but in terms of protection wasn't going to save anything... specifically me

_***Creaaaaak***_

Every pony in the room turned to see a brown stallion dressed in black and white ceremonial robes walk out of the dimly lit doorway. He must be the referee as he was sure dressed for the part… in a very royal fashion. If he was anymore uptight, you could call him a redwood.

"The first fight of the first round will begin shortly!" The short stallion announced. "The first bout will be an unarmed fight between Brutus Maximus and Rampant Storm! Will the first two combatants please follow me into the training arena!"

When he finished announcing, he turned to go back down the hall he came through. I saw the biggest guy in the room stand up (rather slowly I might add) and follow. I thought he was going to hit his head on the top of the doorway. I stood up and walked to the door before stopping to take off my sword and hand it to the guard to keep safe. I turned to face the dim hallway.'

"Now or never..." I walked down the hallway till I arrived at this arena. The color scheme seemed a bit more ominous then the brightness of the castle above. The floor beneath me was made of sand which made sense as if it was made of anything else, it would hurt so badly! The sand had chalk lines drawn in them to show where the combatants were supposed to stand at the start of each fight. It looked like I was in a coliseum if you think about it.

I looked to see in the stands four spectators; Shining Armor, the royal princesses themselves, Celestia and Luna were there in stunning royal dresses that were silver with a pinkish hue and dark blue respectfully and strangely enough, Discord was also there. Well as a pure embodiment of chaos, it only seemed normal for him to watch two stallions try to be the crap out of each other.

'Time to put on a show.' I thought to myself.

As I looked away from my audience, I took my first good look at my opponent. Brutus Maximus... fitting name considering how big this guy was. I'm about 5'8" myself and I didn't even reach his neck! The chestnut earth pony looked like a muscle-bound freak of nature mixed with a gorilla. He was wearing a light tan vest and black shorts but also was barefoot for some reason.

"Both participants appear ready to fight! Do either of you have anything to say before we begin?"

"Yeah I got something; who arranged this lopsided fight?" I asked in a calm demeanor.

"Why it was Captain Shining Armor that personally put this match together. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. I just felt sorry for my opponent is all." Not the smartest thing I've ever said but I had a reason to say that.

"HAHAHA! You'll need to do better than that!" This should be fun.

"You both may begin!" The ref announced. And Brutus wasted no time getting on the offensive. He began to start throwing heavy, focused punches towards me. Lucky for me that meant his attacks were just slow enough to dodge. I quickly dodged every punch and kick he threw at me before jumping back a few feet to put distance between me and him.

"Fifteen." I spoke up.

"What?" He asked puzzled by me suddenly saying the number.

"That's how many times I could have counterattacked in the last flurry of attacks." Though that number was complete bull, I needed him to get mad. If he got mad enough... the fight was mine.

"Ha... a cheeky little colt, aren't you?"

"Well I'd be one boring pony if I wasn't," I said matter-of-factually. "But I don't need to be interesting to whoop your butt."

"You're delusions are really starting to annoy me!"

"So what? What are you gonna do about it? HUH?! Come at me bro!"

"AHHHHHHHHH!" And boy did he. Through nonstop annoyance and frustrating him, I got Brutus to begin a full steam ahead charge right at me. He began to throw punches wildly, meaning they were easier to dodge as his attacks became more predictable. "ARGH! Why can't I hit you?!"

"I don't know. Why can't ya?" I jokingly asked with a sly smirk on my face.

"I'm gonna knock that smirk right off your face!"

"You're all bark and no bite! You keep saying what you're going to do but what you can't seem to grasp is the fact you can't!" Now you're probably wondering why I was acting like the villain. There's a really good reason for that but we'll get to that part when we get there.

"GRRRRRRRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Now instead of trying another flurry of punches, he now tried a full on tackle attack. By the time I realized what was coming, I almost ran out of time to dodge... almost. I quickly rolled out of the way of the tackle and looked back at Brutus. It was then I noticed what my taunting has done to him; when he realized I had gotten out of the way, it took him quite a distance to stop and look for me. I figured it had to be a few yards at least! I then noticed I was about four feet or so from the nearest wall.

'THAT'S IT!' I thought to myself. 'I've got this fight!' I knew what I needed to do to put him down.

"Come get me, Meathead!" I shouted while motioning "come get some" with my hands. Now fully blinded by his rage, he charged straight at me, completely clueless about what I was planning. With no time left to react, I jumped out of the way again and unfortunately for Brutus there wasn't nine feet of running space for him to stop...

_***CRASH!***_

And I mean "crash"! He hit the wall SO FREAKING hard, he went _through_ it! The wall from what I could see was made of solid brick and he just ran right through it like it was cardboard!

"PffffHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I turned around to see Discord laughing his ass off. "Ohohoho! That was amazing! He made him look like such a chump! He didn't even hit him!"

"Brutus Maximus is unable to continue!" The referee announced. "Therefore, Rampant Storm is the winner and will move on to round two!"

"This fight... isn't... over!" Just then we all looked to the hole to see Brutus staggering through it. Quite honestly I wasn't all that surprised that some pony like him could survive running through a brick wall and then get back up to continue fighting.

"Huh... this might be harder than I thought..." I said scratching the back of my head, wondering what else could I try against him. Suddenly without warning, Brutus fell face-first to the floor and was out like a light.

"O...kay... _Now_ he's unable to continue! The winner is Rampant Storm!" Now with the fight over, I walked over to Brutus. As I got close, I saw him begin to stir and look up to see me crouching down in front of him with a hand extended.

"Hey... You ok, Max?" This question was genuine when I asked it. Now with the fight over, I had no plans on keeping this guy my enemy. He just looked at my hand with a puzzled look on his face.

"Wh-What? Now you're acting like my friend?" There was a bit of spite in his voice.

"You want to know something? You want to know why I won?" He looked at me with a genuine curiosity. I guess he was actually interested to hear why he lost to some pony half his size without attacking him once. "I won because you allowed me to make you mad. The fifteen possible counterattacks, the taunts, the nonstop dodging; all of it was so I could get you angry. I knew if I made ya angry enough, you're fighting skill would start to diminish and I could just make you tire yourself out." When I told him why I was acting the way I was, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped a little, though he still hadn't said a thing to me... he just looked at me with disdain and contempt.

"You're a good fighter but if ya allow others to be able to do what I did today... Youuuu might want to consider a different form of employment." I stuck out my hand again as a show of sportsmanship. He picked himself up and walked away without another word. I looked away to the "special" part of my audience. I saw Shining Armor give me a serious look, obviously doing his duty to evaluate me. The princesses were whispering among themselves so I couldn't be sure what they were talking about. Discord just gave me a smile and a thumb up. Glad to know I got the Lord of Chaos's seal of approval.

"Sir?" I turned to see the ref standing next to me. "If you'd kindly take a seat in the stands with the rest so we may prepare for the next battle."

"Oh... sure."

"Your belongings have been moved as well so you should find them in your seat. Don't worry, the guards were told to take good care of the equipment of the participants." With that, the ref left to set up the chalk lines so they were perfect for the next battle. I headed back to the door I came in to see a guard waiting for me.

"If you'd follow me, I'll escort you to your seat." The white guard told me.

"Thanks." I followed him to my seat so I could take my rest for my next fight... Wondering what I'll be up against next.

**A/N: This is a possible story idea I've came up with. Depending on feedback, I may continue this at a later date. Till then I'm just experimenting.**

**Till Next Time: PLZ review, fav, follow, and all that good stuff and I'll see you guys next time! Sal out!**


	3. Ch 2 Cold Fate

**_Ch. 2: Cold Fate_**

I followed the guard to the stands and took my seat with the other combatants to watch the next fight. A few were clapping and saying a couple complements which was kinda nice. The rest just stared me down which I couldn't tell if it was a show of respect or maybe them trying to act tough and intimidating. It's kinda funny that I just beat the biggest pony at the tryouts and they think they're going to make me nervous? Ha I say!

Anyway, I sat down and not a minute later did the ref come out to announce the next fight.

He stopped at the middle of the ring in the sand and was followed by a unicorn. He was wearing a black hood that covered most of his face so I couldn't make out any features and very conservative clothing that matched. I couldn't tell what he looked like under the hood but I could just barely make out a pale yellow of his fur on his face.

The unicorn was then followed a little while after by an earth pony. He was an earth pony like Brutus only a bit smaller and slightly less buff. His attire was pretty bland compared to the unicorn he was fighting. Just a normal white t-shirt, loose black sweat pants and some white shoes was all he was wearing. He seemed confident with the grin on his face that just screamed "I got this in the bag!"

As they both took positions on opposite sides of the field, the ref started his announcement.

"This next match will be between Hidden Fate," the ref said pointing to the unicorn. "And Earthshaker!" He then pointed at the earth pony that cracked his knuckles and neck as if it made him look any tougher. "Both participants appear ready to fight! Do either of you have anything to say before we begin?"

"Just a few words, ref. I'm going to pound and thrash this puny weakling on the spot and this match will end before it even began! What do you think of that, you scrawny excuse of a fighter?!" Earthshaker exclaimed at Fate.

"I think we're going to need a shrink for the delusions of winning you have." Fate responded in a cold tone.

"You dare to insult me, you little runt?! You're going to regret that!" Fate got him right on the ego. Obviously this guy wasn't watching my fight or he would've figured out that letting his opponent egg him on isn't exactly the smartest thing he could do. He was just glaring at Fate but from what I could see, Fate remained indifferent. He took a few steps towards Fate and just stared down at him. Fate didn't even bother looking up to meet his gaze.

"Ok you two, break it up! Wait till I start the match first!" The ref pushed Earthshaker back to his position before Earthshaker pushed the ref out of the way and ran at Fate.

Shaker was adamant that the battle is his, immediately ran towards the unicorn, intending to smash his victim with one blow. He threw a high punch that Fate immediately dodged before spinning around and sweeping Shaker's leg out from under him, sending him crashing down. He fell flat on his back before scrambling to get up, flustered and enraged by how quickly he just got taken down. Around the same time the ref managed to pick himself up and dust himself off but didn't seem to have any plans of ending the fight after seeing Shaker get put on his ass.

"Don't get satisfied with yourself… that was just luck, you runt!"

"Luck has nothing to do with it. Fighting just isn't your thing. Have you considered landscaping?" Oh that did it. That line may have been in Fate's normal monotone voice but the effect didn't change one bit. Shaker was now as pissed as Brutus was when I fought him. He ran at Fate and started throwing punches as fast as he could, though Fate would counter at every opening he could see. Shaker's technique was a classic brawler as he appeared to have no real training. Just punch, punch, punch and hope to Celestia you hit something.

"I've had enough of this!" Shaker's rage broke as he leapt at Fate with the intent of hitting with a powerful slam. Fate dodged the attack and instead of just a quick counter…

**_*WHOCK!*_**

…it was more like Fate taking his foot and doing a flying kick straight into the side of Shaker's head. The sound of the kick was so loud, every pony in the room made in audible "ssssss ohhhh" as Shaker plummeted to the ground face first. Even the royals looked astonished by how hard that kick was. I swear you could have heard the kick on the other side of the building.

After ten long seconds of silence, the ref came back to the ring, decided to end the match on the spot,

"Earthshaker is unable to continue! The winner thankfully is Hidden Fate!" Fate began to walk off the field and take a seat.

"Is he alright?" I looked to see that it was Luna who was expressing her concern. A doctor ran into the arena and knelt next to Shaker. The doctor took his pulse to see if he was still with us.

"He's alright… barely." We all watched as a few guards came in and carried Shaker away. While I watched Shaker's limp body get taken away, Fate arrived and sat next to me.

"Way to go out there! I almost thought you killed him with that kick!" I congratulated him genuinely as I was impressed with Fate's fighting.

"I'm not here to be your friend. Do me a favor and keep your pleasantries to yourself." He was still colder than the arctic towards any pony that talked to him. I shrugged it off and looked to watch the next two fights. The ref was back in the middle of the field.

"We will continue the tryouts! May the next two competitors please take their places?" The next two fights went by in no time at all. The first fight was by far the longest of the night as a unicorn and an earth pony were matching each other blow-for-blow. The battle became intense, as the combatants exchanged one punch after another. I was actually enjoying myself watching this fight go back and forth as the fight had me on the edge of my seat because I wanted to see how it would end. Finally after twenty minutes of switching strategies, trading blows, and just all out carnage between two ponies with only their fists and feet to fight with, the earth pony won by grabbing the unicorn from behind and slamming him down hard. The unicorn was unable to continue as he was too exhausted from the nonstop fighting.

The next fight went by like a lightning strike. It was between a pegasus and the only unicorn left to compete. The pegasus won by abusing a common trait we have: Speed. He wasted no time getting on the offensive and completely overwhelmed the poor unicorn. I could tell that I was in for some fun if I got to face that guy!

All the ponies in the tryouts have gone once and now the guys that lost have to fight in a loser's bracket so they can show a bit more than they got to before.

It started with the ref announcing that because Shaker's ears are still ringing that Brutus immediately advances onto the finals of the loser's bracket.

"Well that was easy…" I turned around to see Brutus sitting right behind me and Fate.

"How long have you been there?" I asked him.

"About thirty seconds after you sat down." His tone seemed a bit friendlier than before. My guess is he just needed to cool down. I turned to Fate who hadn't moved very much in the past half-hour.

"I have an idea!" I looked to see Shining Armor yelling to the ref. "The next fight will be a three way! Last stallion standing wins!" The royals and Discord all nodded at the agreement and the ref began to announce.

"Brutus Maximus versus Star Sleight verses Great Mane! The last one standing will be the winner of the loser's bracket! Will the three combatants please take the field?"

"So much for easy win, eh Brutus?"

"Just wait. I'll be right back…" I watched Brutus get up and walk down to the field. The two unicorns had already taken their places and were ready to go. I could see them scheming from where I was sitting but I knew Brutus could handle it.

"BEGIN!" The two unicorns both ran at Brutus to double team him and take him out first. Brutus responded by grabbing them by the throats and smacking their heads together, knocking them out in five seconds flat…

Every pony in the room kinda leaned forward a bit in amazement… I just chuckled to myself.

"Well that was anti-climactic as all hell!" I joked as I looked at the bodies of the unluckiest unicorns ever… Brutus walked back up into the stands and took his seat. "You were not kidding when you said you'd be right back!" This seemed to make him smile a little. Brutus smile disappeared quickly as he noticed one of the guards talking to Celestia.

"Look over there!" Brutus said pointing. We all turned to Celestia who stood up from her seat.

"That will conclude the tryouts for today! We must be off to something important right now! I expect to see all of you back here tomorrow to finish up and see who gets to join the Royal Guard! It may be all of you… it may be none of you! I hope you all have a good evening!" With that, all the royals, Discord, and Shining Armor stood up and left the arena.

Fate wasted no time getting up to leave along with every pony else as they grabbed all their stuff (minus Shaker and the two unconscious unicorns lying in the arena of course) and head out for home.

I didn't leave my seat as I was wondering what the royals had to do that was so pressing. I finally let it go and grabbed my things and headed for home. I remembered the exact path I came in and followed it out till I made it outside. It was around twilight which was weird to me as we started around three o'clock and sundown didn't happen till around eight.

I blamed my inability to tell time without a clock and spread my wings to fly and took off and flew home to tell Mom about the tryouts.

I landed on the busy sidewalk outside my house and walked in.

"Mom, I'm home!" I yelled while shutting the door.

"How did it go?!" She asked turning the corner from the living room. "Please do not spare me any details!" She was extremely eager to know if I got in or not.

I told Mom everything about my day from the battle with Brutus to the competition and Hidden Fate to the abrupt end.

"Sounds like you had an exciting day! Reminds me when your father tried out for the Royal Guard…" Mom told me this story before but it was one I always loved to hear. "Back when the tryouts were more like public events. I went to the tryouts with my dad as they were always fun to watch. When your father, Star Storm was up next, he wasn't as confident as you would have been as your father didn't have any pony to teach him how to fight so he taught himself. He put himself through rigorous training to prepare him for the tryouts and wowed every pony there, winning the respect of his peers."

"I wish I could've seen him in action…" I felt a little sad as I hadn't really gotten over him leaving… "I'm gonna go rest up for tomorrow, Mom."

"Ok, honey!" My mom said with a smile which I could tell was forced to make me feel better! She gave me a hug and walked into the other room while I went upstairs to my room. It was a blue room as I had a sick obsession with the color when I was five. I grew out of it but never bothered to change the color.

I put all my gear on the ground, took a shower, changed into some sleep clothes that were just sweat pants and a t-shirt and ate the dinner mom brought up for me. After eating two delicious grill cheese sandwiches, I walked over and collapsed on my bed to go to sleep. It didn't work out at first as all I could do was staring at my ceiling for two hours thinking about everything; almost joining the Royal Guard and probably the worst part of tomorrow… My inevitable fight with Hidden Fate, the mysterious fighter.

At around midnight I finally managed to fall asleep, hoping tomorrow would at least go my way… Though life isn't as kind as we'd like it to be…

**A/N Finally done! Writer's block can suck it!**


	4. Ch 3 Fighting Fate

**_Ch. 3 Fighting Fate_**

***Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!***

Well morning always did come faster than I would prefer. I sat up in my bed and looked at the clock. It was eight o'clock which was the normal time for me to get up. I had to think hard about what time I had to be there but no answer came up. I finally just thought it would be better if I got there earlier then I needed to be. No employer likes their employees late after all.

I quickly dressed up and left home, but not before I left a note explaining where I'm going and that I'll be home as soon as possible. But as I took off towards my destination, my stomach suddenly growled and it was at that moment that I realized I forgot to grab a bite to eat on my way out. Whoops.

"Maybe I should have eaten before taking off…" I said to myself, chuckling. I was glad no one was flying nearby as well to hear that.

Deciding that I needed to take a break for just a moment, I wandered around the streets, hoping to find a place to eat, even if the prices are cheap. I shoved my sword into my backpack with my other gear. Didn't want anyone to think I could be a dangerous criminal. I was shocked what I could throw in there considering how small it actually looked.

But as I found myself walking I got distracted by this sweet, delicious aroma and I failed to notice someone heading towards my direction who apparently also wasn't watching where they were going. Before long, we found ourselves on the ground, having bumped into one another.

"Hey watch where you're walking!" I heard a mare's voice say as I rubbed my head. I then heard what sounded like a gasp before looking up to see the mare I ran into standing up but facing the other way. She was a pale yellow unicorn with a short shiny white mane. She was wearing a green shirt and blue jeans with black boots.

"Sorry about that." I apologized, rubbing my head sheepishly. "I guess I was so hungry, I forgot to look where I was walking." I picked myself up off the ground and stood back up.

"Well, since you apologized, why don't I lead you to this one place that serves the best meals in the city?" the unicorn suggested, much to my surprise.

"So sudden..." I replied with coy smile but that just lead to her rolling her eyes at me. "Lead the way then." She smiled as she began to walk down the sidewalk with me following behind.

As we were walking, I kept noticing her sneaking glances at me; like she was expecting me to suddenly attack her.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked the unicorn, causing her face to blush with embarrassment.

"I-it's nothing... I just don't want any pony to get the wrong idea, that's all."

For some reason, I could never believe anyone who stuttered but I decided to drop the issue, as we finally arrived at our destination.

"Crazy Sun's?" I said looking up at the giant sign outside the building. "Does the crazy come with pancakes?"

"As a matter of fact it does!" She said looking at the sign as well. "Just wait till you see what else it comes with..." Could have taken that a lot of different ways in retrospect.

We decided to walk in and I was surprised that the inside was more relaxing than I imagine. Cozy and relaxing, just the way I like it. If I could describe the room in one word, it'd be bright. Bright red walls, bright yellow tables, bright blue carpeting; whoever designed this place sure must have been cheery.

But as much I wanted to look, I wanted to smell even more, but there would be plenty of time for that once we took our seats.

"What do I want...?" I said out loud as I looked at the huge menu. Apparently the restaurant served all it's meals all day so I wasn't limited to just the breakfast menu. Anything from pancakes and waffles to nice veggie pizzas and various soups. A waitress came to our table after a short while.

"Hi Sun Gleam! I see you roped in another one for your dad!" That wasn't the best thing I would like to hear at a restaurant. Though at least I figured out how she knew about this place... and her name. "So how did you find this one?"

"Well actually he found me when we bumped into each other not far from here." The waitress looked at me out of the corner of her eye before actually turning to face me. "So what would you two like?"

"Oh um... Pancakes?" I say not really thinking about it. She turns to look at Sun Gleam.

"Same for me," The waitress smiled as she took the menus and left. "So you've probably figured out my name."

"And it's a very nice name," I complimented. I swore I could see a faint blush from it but I wasn't sure. "Mine's Rampant Storm."

"You're probably a blast at parties..." She joked as she took a look at my bag that I had sat down next to me at our table."It's probably none of my business but what's in the bag?" She asked as she pointed at the bag that I almost forgot I even brought with me.

"A bunch of stuff for a fight," I admitted bluntly. She looked at me like I was crazy before I explained it better. "I'm trying out to get into the Canterlot Royal Guard."

"That sounds interesting," She said before looking away, her happy personality suddenly vanishing. "I wish I could do something cool like that."

"What's stopping you?" I asked sincerely interested.

"More things then you would believe." I then thought of something that might help.

"My dad said that if there was anything stopping me from getting to my goals in life, the last thing I should do is hold back and wait for something else to happen." She seemed to perk up a bit before asking me another question.

"So what are your goals in life?" She asked. "To be the hero by joining the Royal Guard?"

"Not really," I said honestly. She wasn't expecting that answer so I thought to explain it better. "I mean I don't want to be the big hero that everypony in the country writes about like "Oh my Celestia this hero has saved the lives of millions and shall forever be remembered as a savior of Equestria!"" I said in a very mocking voice which sort of got a small laugh out of her.

"Too much stress for you?" She asks after she stopped giggling.

"Too much pressure would be a better term. I just don't want all these expectations weighting me down wherever I go and the backlash that would come when I do indeed fail cause it will happen. I'm too simple a pony to want something like that over my head. Sure there's pressure from joining the Royal Guard but I don't want the pressure of an icon. Somepony else that can handle that can do it for me." I finished to see that she was thinking it over.

"I think I understand what you mean." Not two seconds later, our meals finally arrive.

"Here you go!" The waitress said as she set down our orders which came quicker then I expected with a lot more than I could believe. The pancakes came with hash browns, toast, and little blueberry muffins to complete the spread. "Enjoy your meal!"

"Thanks we will!" Sun Gleam waved happily at the waitress as I looked over my meal. My stomach growled loudly as I decided to dig in. I took my first bite and instantly I could feel my eyes widen.

"Wow, you were not kidding! This stuff tastes great!" I said happily as I continued to take more bites of the large breakfast.

"Well I think my dad would be happy to hear he's got a new frequent customer." She said as she ate her food with a bit more class than me but it wasn't like I was just scarfing down food.

"And I'm happy too!" I chuckled. We continued to eat while talking about some random things that really had no importance. It was basically two ponies chattering about nothing for a half hour before Sun Gleam took a look at the clock and a look of shock seemed to spread across her face.

"Oh dammit, I'm gonna be late!" she exclaimed. "It was nice meeting you, Storm!" With that, Gleam got up and left the restaurant as quickly as she could. I looked at the clock and I realized that I realized I needed to get moving myself. I have a fight to attend to.

I walked out of the restaurant and took flight for the castle. As I arrived a familiar face from yesterday was there to greet me.

"Hey Storm!" The big brute fittingly named Brutus nodded as he leaned against one of the new statues that were standing outside the main gate. "'Bout time you showed up."

"Okay, what gives?" He looked at me curiously, smile never fading. "Yesterday you were trying to kill me and now you're acting like we've been friends for life."

"Well after you kicked my ass without actually kicking it, let's just say you've earned my respect as a fighter," Made sense to me. "Anyway, it turns out that you're the first one up in the semi-finals and they start in an hour. I thought I'd be the one to help you warm up for your fight." Brutus smirked as he cracked his knuckles.

"Well, I don't mind trading a few blows." I responded, as I shrugged my shoulders and accepted the earth pony's offer.

Brutus and I walked into the castle all the way down to the arena from yesterday. It was empty as we were early according to Brutus. It was perfect for two guys to have a fight.

"Okay some ground rules; No running away," Brutus turned to me as we both took positions away from each other.

"What?!" I faked whined. "But that's my bread and butter! You can't take that away!" Brutus just laughed.

"Well I want to see how you do when you can't run away." He remarked. I nodded and took a fighting stance before Brutus and I dashed towards one another, blocking one blow after another with each passing minute until we felt energy bursting right through our bodies, rejuvenating us just in time for the match to begin.

"WOOO!" Brutus shouted after getting hocked up on his own adrenaline. "We've got to do this more often!" I smiled as I looked around.

While Brutus and I were trying to beat the crap out of the other, we seemed to draw a crowd of the other ponies trying out, the princesses, Discord, and even some guards that just happened to be passing by.

Discord took a over-exaggerated breath before letting out a loud sigh. "Nothing like an unsanctioned fight in the morning. I trust you two enjoyed your little fight?" Discord asked with a smirk

"You can say that." I replied, "Anyway, when are we starting?" Before Discord could say a single word, Celestia cut him off, as she started to speak.

"We will be starting as soon as Shining Armor finishes his business in town. He shouldn't be long. Till then, please take a seat." The regal princess spoke as she sat down in her seat. I looked at Brutus before shrugging and doing as we were told.

After what I think was a half hour, Shining Armor finally arrived. He was dressed in armor with very complex designs. I assumed it was more fashionable then functional as it looked heavy and restricting by the way he kind of waddled in.

"Well I do say that armor seems fitting for you, Captain," Princess Luna said as she got a good look at it.

"Yeah but I think they could have at least used something lighter," Armor said as he tried to adjust the torso. "I don't think I can touch my toes in this." He tried to test this right in front of everyone and no, he couldn't. I tried to stop myself but the sight was too funny.

_'Graceful. Truly graceful.'_ I thought, just as Celestia spoke, prompting everyone to focus their attention to the princess.

"Congratulations to those who had made it to the semi-final round. I hope everyone enjoyed their fruits of success, but that was only the first step, as the fights will become far more challenging from here on out. Without further delay, Storm and Fate, please make your way to the arena."

Once Celestia spoke those words, Fate and I simply stood up and made our way to the arena, while the ref made his way to the center. Fate was dressed almost exactly like yesterday so I still had no clue what he really looked like. The only difference was there was now a mask over his face.

The ref, along with a few guards, carried in a set of wooden weapons. Wooden swords, wooden axes, wooden lances, you name it. If it could be made out of wood, it was in there. Luckily, Shining Armor was nice enough to explain.

"This fight will proceed as such," The captain addressed us both. "You both will fight with these wooden weapons and then try to disarm your opponent. You each can pick one and only one so pick the one you're comfortable with." He then sat back down and left the rest to the ref.

"Combatants!" He began. "Please choose your weapons!" I walked over and picked up the wooden short sword. It had a hand guard on it so I didn't have to worry about getting my hand whacked with another wooden weapon.

Fate on the other hand, choose to use a wooden halberd. It was long but he held it steady enough, despite his size. Also like all the other weapons, it was blunt at any point that would be otherwise sharp.

Once we choose our respective weapons, we made our way back to the arena, before the ref made his way to the center.

"Is there anything you two wanted to say to each other?"

"Actually, I do." I replied, before turning to Fate. "May the best pony win."

Expecting some sort of response, Fate remained silent, as I looked on with disappointment with the silent treatment I just received. But I had to rub it off and get my game face on. I had to fight a stallion, holding a halberd, with a dinky little wooden sword.

"Begin!" The ref announced. I wasted no time trying to get on the offense by swiping at the halberd to send it upwards but Fate held on and jumped back to put distance between me and him. I tried to close it again but Fate kept backing away.

One after another, I kept swinging my sword after Fate, but the fellow kept avoiding my swings. It was about at least a few minutes that I finally was starting to become annoyed by his antics.

"Why are you holding back? Where was that fighter I saw yesterday?"

Fate, as usual, didn't respond from my remark, but instead, he immediately dashed right towards and before I knew it, he attempted gave me a direct uppercut that I barely managed to dodge before attempting to put distance between me and him.

"Now that's more like it," I said to him with a smile. "Now it really begins…"

I tried again to send the halberd skyward but Fate this time used the momentum and instead tried to bring it down on my head. I took a quick step to my left and dodged it before trying to pin the halberd to the floor with the sword. Fate countered by winding up, preventing me from stopping the halberd and then attempting a full swing with the halberd. I dodged it by dropping to my stomach and then as the lance flew by, I launched myself back up to my feet and put some distance between me and him.

The fight continued to go back and forth for what seemed like forever. I could tell that I was running out of breath but Fate wasn't as easy. I could just barely tell from looking at his chest that it was rising and falling fast. We were both tired but still neither one of us could hit the other. The end was near and one of us needed to fall.

I could tell that Fate was thinking the same thing as he rushed towards me again with the lance. I dodged and tried to counter but before I could I felt a huge pain in my stomach. Fate kicked me square in the stomach.

I tried to recover and get away but I fell on my butt with only about twelve feet of sand between me and him. Not the position you'd want to find yourself in.

"Get up!" Fate knew he had me… but instead of finishing me, he let me stand up. I didn't know why Fate gave me some room to catch my breath, but it didn't matter. I needed to find a way to take him down but… wait. I looked at the wood sword and remembered it had a guard on it. I thought I found my answer.

Fate charged at me, prepared to swing the halberd and just before it would have hit me, I dropped to my knees right under the halberd and shoved the guard of the sword right into his gut before following up with an uppercut to the chin, sending his mask flying but not his hood.

Fate staggered to the ground, before he recovered himself, somewhat amazed I pulled such a move on him. At the same time, I was close enough to hear Discord commenting on my action.

"Talk about playing dirty." he commented. "Then again, I really enjoy seeing such moves. It makes fighting all the more entertaining." Of course, Discord would enjoy it.

I decided to just focus on fight with Fate, who finally recovered long enough for both of us to fight once more.

My stomach still felt like it was about to blow up, but the pain was the least of my worries. As Fate and I fought one another, he decided to strike back once more by performing a downward slice. Unfortunately for him, I saw what he was about to do. I first spun my sword around so I was backhanding it, blocked the attack and redirected the momentum while using my own to perform a spiral kick to the head, knocking him to the ground almost immediately and causing him to let go of the halberd.

Before I could do anything else, the ref stopped me and then went to check on Fate. Fate tried to get back up and was up to one knee before falling back down. The ref called it there.

"Hidden Fate cannot continue! The winner is Rampant Storm!" After he said that, I fell down onto my back and just stared at the lights for about a minute before Brutus came over with a smirk.

"Get up, you lazy trash." I couldn't help but laugh

"Really?" I say to him. "That's your big insult?" I joked.

"No but there are ladies in this place and I prefer to be respectful in their presence." He stuck out his hand and helped me back to my feet.

"Thanks for the help, Brutus," I thanked him genuinely. "Honestly, I think I'm about to lose my breakfast." I said to the behemoth.

"Just don't throw up on my shoes or I'll have to kill you." Brutus replied. I think he was joking…

Brutus and I looked over to Fate before at one another and both agreed to at least come to him and congratulate him on doing his best.

"That was some good fight back there, Fate." I commented.

"Yeah you really gave this one a run for his money," Brutus added. "I do not envy you in the slightest." Brutus said patting me on the back to show he was talking to me.

"Thanks for that, ya prick." I said under my breath to him. He just chuckles at me.

"...I suppose I could accept them for now." said a hesitant Fate, before he glared at me. "But mark my words, I will beat you eventually."

"I look forward to it." I remarked to him. "Bring your best so I'll bring my worst!" When I said that, I think I saw a smile under that hood.

"Save it, Storm," Brutus said seriously. "You still have one more fight today." I groaned as I know he's right. As much as I thought fighting was fun, pain wasn't.

"You'll be fine. Just get in ice pack over it and you should be fine." Brutus assured me. I could tell that we were going to be good friends...

Brutus and I took our seats while Fate went to get checked out to see if he was okay and there was no real damage. I was handed an ice pack from the medic pony as he passed by. I held it close to my stomach as it finally started to calm down. I looked over to see Shining Armor talking with another guard about something. He then turned to address us.

"We will take a twenty minute break before the next match." Shining Armor announced. "Will the next participants prepare themselves?" I was glad for the break. More time for me to heal. I just leaned back in my seat and zoned out until the tryouts could continue…


	5. Ch 4 A Bizarre Change

_**Ch. 4 A Bizarre Change**_

After staring at the ceiling for twenty minutes with an ice pack on my stomach that had already started to warm, the ref and Shining Armor decided it was time to get the show moving.

"Will the next two participants please enter the ring?" The ref asked. A green pegasus and orange unicorn that were sitting a few rows ahead of where Brutus and I were both got up and walked into the ring. The two faced each other as the ref stood between them. "This next match will be between Slipstream," The ref announced as he pointed towards the pegasus. Slipstream was wearing black shorts and a red t-shirt. "And Star Blaster!" Star Blaster was wearing basic sweat pants and t-shirt. "Choose your weapons!" Slipstream went and chose the same small sword I picked during my fight while Star Blaster picked up a long sword. It kinda looked like a cutlass from where I was sitting. "Do either of you have anything you would like to say?" Silence from both of them. The ref simply shrugged. "Begin!"

Slipstream wasted no time getting on the offensive, much like his first fight. Though Star Blaster was faster than the last unicorn that fought Slipstream, he still was having a hard time keeping up with Slipstream. As Slip swiped and tried to disarm Star, he tried to get behind Slip though received a punch in the side for his efforts. He quickly jumped away to get distance.

"He's not bad," Brutus said to me as he looked on. "You're definitely going to have a run for your bits today."

"Provided that he doesn't try to punch me in the gut." I remarked.

"He was watching your fight especially well," Brutus told. "He knows just what button to push." Brutus poked the ice pack on my stomach.

"I'll just have to be on my guard then." I replied. I looked backed at the fight to see that Star Blaster wasn't doing so well. He was literally with his back against the wall trying to find an opening. As Slip rushed Star, out of desperation, Star Blaster grabbed some sand with his hand and attempted to blind Slipstream's vision. Slip immediately dodged and kicked Star in the face for his efforts. Star tumbled down to the ground, unable to continue after failing to get up.

"Dammit. I was hoping he would, oh I don't know, hit him!" I grumbled to myself.

"That was a quick fight," Brutus and I both looked to see that it was Fate who had taken a seat next to me. "You're definitely going to have to be at your best to beat him."

"Thanks for that kick by the way."

"You're welcome." He deadpanned.

"Star Blaster cannot continue! Therefore the winner is Slipstream!" The ref announced before going to tend to the unconscious Star Blaster. I turned towards Shining Armor's direction to see him and Celestia and him leaving in a hurry. I found this extremely curious as Shining Armor was the _Captain of the Royal Guard! _You'd think he would be there to watch the finals of the tryouts. As we waited for something to happen, Slipstream took his seat and resumed being the silent pony he's been all day.

After about three minutes, this new gray furred pegusas pony in armor walked in before bowing to Luna.

'_I wonder who that is…' _I thought to myself. My question would be answered rather quickly.

"For those who don't know me; I am Shining Armor's second in command, Valiant Knight." Valiant talked in a much different manner then Shining. While Shining was more of a friendly pony, this pegasus was more of the kind of pony you would see actually in charge of the guard.

"He really needs to lighten up." Brutus whispered to me.

"Don't plan on that ever happening." I whispered back.

"Due to circumstances you need not know about, Shining Armor and Celestia are unable to survey the remaining tryouts and as such, I'll be taking their place until then." Valiant Knight informed the rest of us. "Anyway, let us continue with the finals," Valiant Knight announced.

"Looks like I'm up next." I said to myself, as I got up from my seat.

"But here are the rules; you both must fight in full armor with real weapons." Valiant Knight informed everyone, catching a lot of us by surprise.

"Well, this is going to be fun." I spoke with amusement.

You both have twenty minutes to be ready." I looked over to Slipstream who looked back with an intense glare like he was going to look at my soul.

_'How is he the only intimidating pony in the room? I don't even find Brutus intimidating... well when he's in a good mood.'_ I thought, expressing some discomfort from his glare. 'Fine by me! At least my stomach won't be on the top of my worry list.' I grabbed my backpack and changed into my armor in a room that one of the guards directed me to. I put on my helmet before I pulled my dad's sword out of the bag before unsheathing it to get a good look at it. It was a curve-bladed short sword that really didn't have anything special about it. Even though, it was all I had left of my dad and it was extremely important to me. The fight that was coming up would be the closest thing to my first real fight with this sword and my first real test of what I could do with it.

After getting suited up, I walked out and stood on the opposite side of the ring from where Slipstream was. He was wearing normal armor that seemed heavier than mine but I couldn't tell from looking at him and also covered his wings like mine. His weapon of choice was a saber. I wondered how good he was with a saber though I didn't really get to see much of his swordsmanship.

"This fight will continue till one of you is either disarmed or is unable to continue." The ref announced. "Do either of you have anything you would like to say?"

"I feel like I'm at my execution when you say that…" I joked aloud. It seemed to annoy Slip a little. I guess he didn't think I was taking him seriously. The ref looked at Slip who remained silent. _'Either he's mute or doesn't like talking.' _I thought to myself.

"Begin!" We both took a stance as we stood around ten feet from each other. Slip was the first to attack as he dashed at me attempting to swipe the sword out of my hand. He was sufficiently slower in his armor though that was to be expected. I dodged and attempted a side slice at the hilt to either create and opening or knocking it out completely. Unfortunately neither of those came to pass as he managed to dodge and tried following up with a downward slice. I blocked it and we began to clash in a test of strength before I tried to kick out one of his legs. He saw this coming and dodged. When he planted his foot again he tried to do the same to me with the same amount of luck.

After a few seconds we both broke the clash and backed off. We both encircled each other before clashing with each other over and over. I try to sweep his legs but he jumps over and tries a downward slash only for me to block it. He tries to kick me in the gut but I counter by catching his leg with my free hand and attempting to bash him with the hilt of my sword. He blocks this and gets his leg free before putting distance between us again.

After about twenty minutes of us matching each other blow for blow, I could feel myself starting to slow down. Luckily, so was Slip as I could see him starting to breathe heavily as well.

'_Now or never…_' I thought to myself, as I picked up speed and dash towards him with my sword. Slipstream, though, noticed my move and was clearly taken by surprise, as he attempted to shield my blow, partially succeeding in the process, as I almost slashed his helmet off. It wasn't much, but better than nothing.

_'Nice reflex Slip, but I have a few tricks of my own.'_ I proceeded to turn around and immediately leap towards my opponent, lunging at him with my sword. I suddenly felt a large pain in my gut from Slip kicking me in the stomach before everything when black after he wound up a kick to my head, causing me to fall to my stomach.

I woke up from being knocked out on my back... even though I landed on my stomach...

"Ow... What happened?" I asked myself as a rubbed my aching head, before I saw every pony looking at me with a shocked expression on their faces. Brutus immediately took an offensive stance and looked at me like I was his worst enemy.

"What's wrong? Why is every pony looking at me like that?" Now they were looking at me like I was crazy. "What'd I miss?!" Slowly, Brutus lowered his offensive stance, as he cautiously made his way towards me.

"You really don't remember what happened?"

"Yeah, I got my ass kicked!" That was what I remembered before blacking out.

"Until you got up and suddenly went feral over Slipstream." Discord explained to me, before pointing to the unconscious and beaten pegasus. I looked over and saw Slipstream out cold.

"When did this happen?!" I shouted. I had no idea what was going on. I even thought it might just be a prank that some pony is trying to pull on me.

"It happened about five minutes ago. It was like you were a different pony." Brutus replied. I did a double take on my friend's face and after a while, it was clear that he was telling the honest truth. I looked at every pony's faces. What they saw must have been something. Too bad I couldn't remember any of it.

"Discord, Luna; we should alert Celestia about this." That just made me cringe. I felt my chances at getting into the royal guard suddenly plummet.

_'What have I gotten myself into?'_ I thought to myself, still in disbelief how my day is turning out. So as we waited for the return of the ponies that were in charge of whether or not we get in, Brutus and Fate filled me in on what happened.

"Did I really do that to Slipstream?" I still have a hard time believing what I did back at the ring.

After I had been knocked to the ground, the ref called the match before looking towards me to see I had gotten up like nothing happened. The blade of my sword also went from being a normal steel color to a shiny blue.

After that, the ref continued the match as I was still able to fight. Slipstream tried to make quick work of me and tried to disarm me, though instead for his efforts got the beating of his life. After the ref called the match, I refused to stop and Brutus actually had to pull me off. This was followed by me escaping and trying to attack Brutus himself which he was saved by a barrier that Fate made. After Luna magically bound my sword arm, Brutus punched my lights out. Then I woke up to the scene I saw a few minutes later.

"What happened?" I asked myself. My head felt like it was smashed by a ton of bricks. Back in the present with me still sitting in sand with my sword about ten feet from me.

"Now how did that get there?" I asked no one in particular, before I got up and retrieve my sword.

"It fell out of your hand after I punched you." Brutus explained.

I looked at the sword and much to my surprise; the shiny blue blade had somehow reverted back to its normal steel color.

"This was blue?" I asked.

"Yes," Fate answered. "You could also see a dark blue glow around it."

"Not only that, but your mane and fur turned darker and your eyes suddenly became yellow." Brutus noted. My eyes were normally a blueish green. I don't know, I could never tell but I was damn sure they weren't yellow!

"And then you went on to attack Slipstream with no mercy at sight." Fate continued where Brutus left off.

"So," I said with a hollow smile. "What are my chances of getting into the guard?"

"No," Brutus said. "After what we just saw, I wouldn't."

"I'm sorry Storm, but I don't think they'll give a second chance." Fate informed me sympathetically.

"Goodie..." I mumbled sarcastically before I threw my sword angrily at the wall in frustration before falling on my back and lying in the sand.

Brutus and Fate looked at each other, no doubt trying to think of something to calm me down. But it wouldn't matter, because I lost my only chance of becoming a Royal Guard.

If I was just not let in because I wasn't good enough, that would have been fine. I could have always tried again. But I tried to kill my opponent, Slipstream and Brutus. I doubted they would let me in under any circumstances and more than likely ban me for life or maybe even imprisonment.

_'Well I can't wait to tell mom...' _I thought to myself in disappointment.

"Storm..." Fate said, as he extended his arm at me, but I gently knocked it away.

"Please, just leave me alone." was all I said, before I walked away for what felt like the last time.

"Attention every pony! The announcement of the newest trainees in the royal guard are about to be announced so I recommend all of you stay here," Valiant Knight announced. "That means you too, Storm."

The moment Knight mentioned my name; I stopped dead in my tracks, cringing in response by this. Just what did he have in stored for me? I couldn't read his face. It was the same deadpan expression he had shown all day. Even when I woke up after the incident a little while ago, he seemed to not show any emotion one way or the other. Whatever he had in mind for today, I knew for certain that I wouldn't like it one bit.

**A/N I hope you enjoyed! **


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